Two fingers clasped my chin and brought my face closer to his. I gritted my teeth at how intimate the gesture came across.
“Insurance,” he muttered.
“This isn’t the eighteenth century. You can’t compromise me simply by keeping me in your house. Am I going to do the walk of shame outside your door?” I jerked my face from his grasp. “Where do you live anyway?”
He dropped his hand. “Later,Lusenka. I have a laundry list of things to take care of cleaning up your mess.”
“It’s not my mess!”
He shot me a blank look before he exited the room. He left the door open.
I walked over to it and slammed it shut so he’d know exactly how I felt about his proposal.
Chapter
Three
Kirill
Lucy De Lucciwas proving to be a worthy adversary. I expected her to cower, but the rebellion in her eyes made what I planned for her more enticing to see through. My initial disappointment that Viktor didn’t get rid of the bane of my existence quickly morphed into devious scheming that would actually solve many of my problems. But first, I needed to placate the pakhan of the Moscow mob.
He answered on the second ring. “What the fuck, Zahkarov? What happened?”
“My men are on the scene. It appears Viktor had a run-in with a state trooper, and he was carrying bricks of cocaine and illegal weapons in his trunk along with Davenport’s body.”
“Tell me something I don’t know!” Peter growled. “And I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so.’”
“I don’t recall saying that.”
“I don’t need your sarcasm either. My brother is dead. The least you can do is say, ‘I’m sorry.’”
I clenched my jaw. “Sorry that his recklessness is causing me more problems? He killed a senatorial candidate. I told you not to interfere on my turf. I don’t owe Moscow anything, and I’m fixing your brother’s fuckups. You shouldn’t have sent him here to deal with Davenport.”
“Watch it, Zahkarov.”
I had made my point, and I didn’t want Peter to lose the narrative of what I was spinning. “Viktor was smart enough to wrap Davenport’s body in garbage bags. He killed him with a heroin overdose. Anya will support the story.”
“You don’t see any problem with her?”
Besides making her a merry widow and in control of her husband’s estate. “No. I will go to her now and make sure everything is in order before she calls 911.”
We discussed other concerns that would ensure the authorities would be satisfied with the resulting investigation. I assured Peter I could pay the right people to look the other way. Disruption of Moscow’s business interests took precedence over Viktor’s death. I had to remind Peter of this.
“I have to go,” I told him. “I’m personally overseeing that everything goes according to plan.”
“Thank you.”
Turning this around so Peter would be in my debt was my objective all along, but I had to be careful not to gloat.
“Wait,” Peter cut in.
I paused, my finger hovering over the end button.
“What is this I hear you have a fiancée?” There was slight disbelief in Peter’s tone. Humor even.
“You heard correctly.”
“Who?” he demanded. “You’ve turned down every respectable match, including Anya. Why get married now?”
